New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-04-10
THE REPAVING OFFFIH-AYE
WORK TO BE BEGUN AGAIN TOMORROW.
WHAT STILL REMAINS TO BE DoNE-POLITrcAk
ASPECTS OF THE UNDERTAKING.

WHAT STILL REMAINS TO BE DoNE-POLIrrcAL
ASPECTS OF THE UNDERTAKING.
| The work of repaving Fith-ave will be resumed in
earnest tomorrow by Contractor Baird. Some pre-
parAtOry work done last week, but only little
gang OF men, with steam crusher will start In the
| mornipg on the uncompleted section between Sixty
first and Seventy fifth $751; and another gang will
begin at Ninthst. About seventy hands in all have
been hired for to-day but within week or two over
| 800 more and forty fifty teams will be set to
work. Mr.. Baird expects to have the entire conracs
completed by August unless some further nvestiga-
tOns are ordered by tho municipal authorities.
The work is not quite two-thirds DONE BY the terms
of the contract the avenue to be repaved ftou
Ninth Nineteenth sts., except the portion between
Thirty SEE Ond and Thirty seventh sts, which had
been already paved and accepted The unfinished
sections are the blocks between Ninth aud Twenty
fifth ss and between SIxty-f and Seventy nth Sta
No new pavement has yet been put down below
Twenty fifth st TACT the stones tor this porticu-
have only just begun to arrive Considerable WORK.
| however has been accomplished on the uncOmpeted
section alongside the Park Tie block between Sixty
first and ad sts and those between Seventy
second and Seventy fifth sts have all been concerted
and are ready tor the pavement and the excavations
have been nearly finished all along this section.
Altogether there about thirty blocks yet TO Do
paved Work would have been started some time ago,
but il was impossible to get the stones They all
from Maine, and at many of the quarres the is
still from to two feet in depth Enough material
the " ork will be pushed forward rapidly.
The repaying of Fth-ave uthorized by q
special act OF the Legislature OF 1888 Matthew
Baird obtained she contract his bid OF Y429 900 being
the lowest lie began work early in April OF last year
with large force OF men, expecting to finish the entire
Job before the frost came but The times were some
what out of joint. Mayor Grace alter tue scalp
of Public Works Commissioner Squire, and was seek
ing everywhere for means to Dust his poetic suboedi-
| nate from office. For q long time he met with little
i q. IL. ..InIt -.
case against the Department OF Public Works Out VI
| the repaytng OF Fifth-ave. Mr. ShcarmaD, Columns
siouer of Accounts began the attack, ostensby but Vt
course he merely represented Mr. Grace In the matter
| The work was declared to have been improperly
done Mr.. Bach, engineer, was sent up to inspect
it, He did so and made report OF rather startling
character According to IT. the contractor was little
less than criminal. Nothing had been done
| right The foundations were bad; the cemens
put down IN the most reckless manner possible. In
short the terms Of the contract, according to Mr..
Bach had been completely ignored by the conraeter.
| As a natural result work Was suspended pending
| more complete investigation The work was stopped
so suddenly that the contractor was unable to hrnh
the street in many places where II had been exc,r
waited in consequence of which residents OF tie aveane
were bountitully supplied with dust and mud during
the greater part OF the summer aad autumn AZ het.
however, the Flynn letter t"Tned up and the MAJOR
aot so mu,h talk about Mr. Bairds work. IL began
to appear as though it might not be SO bad after ALL
| This opinion gathered strength and when finally
commission OF engineers, appointed to make tuli ex
animation OF the matter reported that the work had
been properly DONE the public was not surprised in
| the least -,
| IL was late in the autumn when this report M.
made but the contractor succeeded in getting good
deal of the unfinished portions into shape before the
cod weather act In to the great relief OF many dti
zens living in and using the popular thoroughiare So
lar a, can be aseertaned there is general ap-
prevail Of the work. 1t has stood the test oil an IN
ard t as the best pavement that has yet been laid in
| this city, aud gentleman, who has been building
| ,., nn aatf II
could NOS be equalled in America. The stones wefo
all specially selected for It, and prepared by the eeas
workmen in the employ OF the New-lor and Mhss
| Paving Block Company, which has the CONTRACT ~
| tins mart of the work